Hi folks! Very excited- I bought by first anvil today. Not as heavy as I initially wanted (weighs in at 87 pounds) and not perfect, but it was in my price range and I think I'll be happy with it starting out.

I went for a drive today and looked at 4 anvils at antique dealers and private sellers. Three of them were dead and lifeless. (no ring, no rebound). This one rings like a bell. And if I drop a steel pinball on it, it practically throws it back into my hand.

I couldn't find any markings on it when purchased, but found a few once I wiped it down. Side of anvil shows a faint "M" and maybe "A". (maybe ACME?)
Foot shows an 85 on left (weight?) and then a serial number that looks like A137618.

Quick search says perhaps this was an ACME anvil made by Trenton for Sears? Any thoughts? Thanks for the help!
(pics below)

If your anvil was made by Trenton, Anvils In America shows that serial # from 1915. :)

It has to be an ACME imo. I don't know what you paid and it's not ''perfect'' but that's one heck of a nice anvil. If the work you do on it sucks, you can't blame that anvil, use it well...... B)

Thanks guys!
Macbruce- I appreciate the assessment, which makes me feel better about the purchase.
I've read a few posts about amazingly cheap lucky anvil purchases, and this was definitely not one of those. I think I pretty much paid what it's worth (in my area).
Cant wait to clean it up, and pound some hot steel!

Speaking of- any advice on anvil cleaning/maintenance? I heard wire brush and oil/wax work pretty well...

Keep it inside, use it regularly, no maintenance needed. Wire brush off any crust and or rust do not apply any coatings that will burn or out gas in the presence of hot metal you don't need to breath that stuff.

Congratulations on your find!  My first anvil was also a Trenton, they're great anvils.  Take a few hours to clean it up with a wire brush wheel on an angle grinder and you'll be happy with the results.  It's slow, one square inch at a time, but the end result is worth it.  Nothing like cleaning up a century old piece of history and giving it that "new old" look.  After you clean it all off wipe it down with some boiled linseed oil.  That will protect and won't dry off like other coatings, and also allows the natural look of the metal to show through.  Again, congratulations...now use it!

After your suggestion I picked up a wire brush cup for my angle grinder and some linseed oil.  I did one side as a test.  Good call!  WOW is that pretty.  Instantly transformed from rusty chunk to serious tool.  Can't wait to use it!

Lets see a photo of the improvements!

Of Course!  Here are some before/after:

 

 

Not perfect... but it's mine! :)

 

That is one beautifully cleaned up piece. Makes me think of the old Wiley Coyote cartoons from Saturday mornings when they dropped ACME anvils...

I dislike breathing the fumes of burning coatings when forging. I would have skipped coating the working face unless I was putting it into long term storage.

Nice job cleaning it up!  My 305 pounder took 5 or 6 hours to clean up, but still worth it.  After seeing those numbers stamped on the front foot of the anvil, I would almost positively say it's a Trenton.  My 105lb. Trenton has almost identical markings...on the front foot it reads    W105   A   94479.  With the horn facing left, look for a diamond shapen stamping on the side of the anvil with the word Trenton written in it.  The "N" in the middle sometimes looks like an "X".  Post those serial numbers on the foot and I bet someone on this site could tell you the date it was made within 24 hours.

 

While they're at it, could someone look up the serial number of my Trenton anvil?   - W105   A  94479 - 

 

No matter what make it is you've got a good anvil.  Putting some time and elbow grease into restoring it a little bit gives you an appreciation for the way it was made a 100 years ago...which in turn gives you the desire to make things with it that will be appreciated by someone else 100 years from now.

It cleaned up really nice, good job! Sounds like you found a heck of a good piece!

Thanks all!  I'm definitely excited.

 

ThomasP- I totally respect that.  Linseed Oil seemed a safe bet, since it's pretty much a pure vegatable product.  But perhaps I should wipe down the business surfaces with soap/water before I go at it to be safe.

 

Routed out the top of my stump to match the anvil foot, and dropped 'er in this afternoon.  (looks GOOD!) Picked up my propane tank and burner.  Waiting on my refractory brick/blanket to build the forge this weekend.  Coming together!

Just learned something.  "Boiled Linseed Oil" contains solvents/chemicals, where "Raw Linseed Oil" does not.

How about that.

 

While they're at it, could someone look up the serial number of my Trenton anvil?   - W105   A  94479 - 

 

 

SN 94479 = circa 1910 according to Anvils in America.

Boiled Linseed Oil---yup I was just about to remark on it's non-vegetable contents. Originally you boiled linseed oil literally to make it polymerize faster nowadays they add catalysts to it to make it polymerize faster and they tend to be toxic. Now putting a hot piece of metal on a thin coating on your anvil is not going to strike you dead; but it does come under the general"good idea to avoid fumes" section of smithing safety. Generally when I get an anvil with a dirty face I wire brush it and then let hot steel clean it up in use. I have an HB that was stored in a damp area that has condensation pitting on the face, rather fine and even, and am polishing it out with use---scale is an abrasive you know. It's just about smooth in the sweet spot and trails off to the original condition towards the heel. Now if I was going to store my anvils in a damp location I would probably wirebrush them and then linseed oil them everywhere.